A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
A Pair of Time
Chapter 56- Requiem of Spirit, Part 3
Spirit Temple; Day
"Hmm?" Malon rotates around, but finds herself staring at a blank wall.
"What's wrong, Mal?" Link asks her with little aspiration as he studies the possibilities between two nearby doors.
"Nothing… I just… I just got that feeling that we're being watched…"
"Well, Nabooru said this is Ganondorf's hideout."
"Ya think that's a problem?"
"Well, they're not in this section of the temple, so I wouldn't worry about it for now."
"Ugh…" Malon shudders. "These stupid spirits are freakin' me out. They're just… touching me."
"I know, but what are we going to do about it?" Link concludes as he goes ahead to the left door.
Casually, they meet with a Stalfos, which proves difficult to fend off due to height difference. When done with the undead knight, the heroes quickly tackle the first puzzle and continue on. The next room puts them up with an unlikely foe, a hovering figure with a thick skin impenetrable to the heroes' long ranged attacks.
"Time to do the old slicing and dicing," Link said as he rushes in, his sword firmly pressed against his left hand.
Navi, however, thinks differently, as she pulls out and stops him. "Hold on there! That's an Anubis! No attack can hurt it, except fire!"
"Fire? Well, Din's Fire should do the trick then."
"Or just lead it into a wall of fire." Navi flutters over to a diamond switch. "Just hit this, and guide the being to the fire. The Anubis mirrors your move, so there should be little problems."
"Right… Risk either falling down the pits there or getting shred by that trap there just to conserve energy?" Link fingers for the magic spell in his inventory. "Sometimes you got to use some common sense, Navi."
"But… But… It's… It's how… It's how the Sages would have done it if they went through here! If they didn't have Din's Fire, they would have to use this way!"
"But luckily we do, Navi." He pulls the crystal out of his pack, then concentrates his energy to summon the spell within. Once his mind attains on grasping the fire, Link brandishes it into effect, creating an orb of flames that quickly enlarges, scorching everything as it spreads except for him, Malon, and Navi. The Anubis deftly ignites, burning away in such a fast pace that all that's left of it a moment later are ashes. The door leading away from the room unbars itself when the presence of the monster is no more. "There. Quick and effective, isn't it?"
"It's not how the ancients would have done it…" Navi mutters obstinately as she flies back to the party.
"Well, we're not the ancients, are we?"
After going through the first major puzzle and retrieving the Small Key, Link and Malon move ahead to find an earthen room with a symbol of the sun in the middle. A close examination provokes an ethereal voice from the object, speaking its sentence with clarity, "Show me the light!"
"Naaavi?" Malon calls to her.
The fairy grumbles as she answers her summons. "Of all the inconsiderate people…" She surveys the sun and then the surroundings. "WELL, I think the light this object is stipulating for can be accessed by blowing open this boulder up here." She buzzes up to a large protrusion in the rocky wall. Around the edge, light desperately peeks through, though none of the beam encounters the sun crest. "… We… do have Bombchus… I assume?"
"Bombchu? What's a Bombchu?"
Link scoffs almost instantly. "Only the latest in explosive technology. I thought you keep up with this kind of stuff, Mal."
"Uh, I hate things that explode, okay? So could ya just please not act obnoxious on being an explosive nerd as you are?"
"Sure…" He quickly suppresses a chortle from invoking the extreme fury of his companion. "Sure. Anyway, a Bombchu is a suicidal rodent that has a Bomb attached to its tail. From that, it's easy to assume what its nature is, and how it would react to anything, even to its own kind."
"Uh-huh…" Malon nods, then mumbles under her breath, "Nerd…"
"So we Hylians borrowed the innovative explosive technology invented by the Gorons, and fabricated this mobile version of the Bomb, in a rough shape of these bloodthirsty animals. It's called the same way, the Bombchu. It's sleek, it moves, it blows up things that can't be reached by a Bomb!" Link suddenly goes into a trance of pleasure. "Isn't that… great…?"
The redhead smacks her head. "Boys…" Staring at Link, she shakes her head. "He's steady as a knight, but moans at the thought of BOOM." A shadow behind Link blackens on the floor in her vision, striking a cord in her instincts. "Link! We ain't alone!"
The boy in green blinks for a split second then unsheathes his small sword with a turn just in time to parry a blow from a Lizalfos. Malon edges back, notching a Deku Seed on her slingshot's elastic bands. A tingle up her back, however, causes her to leap forward to dodge a swing by another Lizalfos. She faces it, her slingshot ready for a shot at its face, but awaits an opening. Forced to step backwards, her back meets up with Link's.
"Great…" she mutters to herself and him. "You got a plan?"
"Always do," he sneaks to her. "The other one's staring at you, right?"
"Like it's skewering holes in me, yeah."
"Right, then, give it a shot, then let me take care of it. You better be a quick aim with this one in front of me."
"Gotcha."
"Ready… go!"
The bullet flies at the Lizalfos's head, but it swiftly lets the seed fly by. In the fluidity of its action, the Lizalfos springs into the air for a counter. Link anticipates this as he swivels around to take Malon's spot and rams his sword into the area about the monster's stomach. The other foe retaliates this move with a leap of its own, but Malon reloads in time and sends a bullet into one of the eyes of Link's opponent. Disabling its most needed organ in the head, the Lizalfos falls dead to the ground, while its wounded comrade shudders next to it awaiting its own death.
"Fairy boy…" Malon calls to him as she stares at the dying creature. "Do ya ever… have time to think… that these two are like us? Close friends, but their adventure ends like this?"
Link stands next to her, similarly giving a look at the Lizalfos. "… Almost all the time."
Surprised with the answer, she faces him. "And you don't have anything against it?"
"Why should I? Death happens to everybody, it's just Fate that decides when. I do think about us dying one day on our quest… but that still doesn't stop me from going on. Why be afraid of Death when you know you're going to die anyway? Just live life as it is before the time comes. That means, for us, let's just keep doing what we do and not worry about the next corner bringing about our beheadings. If it is, so what?"
"So what? That means we can avoid it!"
"But we don't know what that next corner brings."
"So it's better if we just don't explore it."
"And leave it behind? Malon, there are risks in life you just have to take."
"And what if I don't?"
"Well, you'll be thinking about it all the time until you do something about it."
"… Since when did you become all grown up?"
"Since I stopped fearing the future…" He then turns to her and smirks, "and knew that you'll never be as mature as me."
"WHAT? I'm mature, too!"
He chuckles in contradiction. "I don't think whining about how unfair life is, especially ours, counts as a landmark in maturity."
"You… You…!"
"I… I what?"
"You…!"
"Well, let me pick your word choices: matured boy, adult, cool person, Hero of Time, best out of us two…"
The moribund Lizalfos nearby groans and tries to pick up its head, but Malon, in her ire, squashes the head with her boot. "You… boogerheaded… bug!"
Link collapses on the floor, cracking at the title. "Boogerheaded bug? Wow, Mal, you're really creative!" He continues laughing, until Malon's weight on him says otherwise.
"Ya WISHED you were like me! Pretty, tough, AND mature!"
"I can easily count the third one out. Tough, maybe. But, pretty?" Link gives a headshake. "Wasn't there a Cucco that looked like you?"
Malon's face reds intensely, then her fingers grope around Link's chest until she yanks a nipple.
"Ouch!" Link places his hands around the sensitive area.
"A purple nurple, for saying I look like a Cucco!"
"I'll give you a purple nurple!" In a flash, the redhead feels stinging pain in the area, more sensitive than Link's.
"OW!" She consoles the affected area with her hand. "You meanie!"
"What?"
"Everybody knows purple nurples hurt more to girls!"
"Oh? I thought you said you were tough. Did you just lie?"
Her face turns scarlet again, then her fingers go on to tickle Link. His laughter amplifies to where the sick presences of the dead Lizalfoses disappear. In the midst of flying digits, Link tries to fight back, but finds the familiar turn of events of his limbs being locked down by Malon's.
"The undefeated champion: Malon!" the redhead declares. "Still sure 'bout being the best out of us?"
"You know I'm letting you win."
"Your fault! Ya expect me to have good sportsmanship doing this?"
Link groans, particularly to all the times he lost to Malon at this. "Really?"
"Yeah."
The boy attempts liberation, but finds to his surprise that his friend is now much stronger than he realized. Malon smiles, stimulating one from Link, but hers melts into a hopeful feature. An old, accustomed feeling that Malon always kept dearly at heart softly awakens from its slumber, and in a moment, Link quickly recognizes its returning with a glance beyond her sapphire eyes. He gasps silently, and Malon becomes aware of his knowing. They both stare into each other's rapt eyes like so many times ago. Both have the same question in their minds: Were they willing to become closer?
Malon becomes first to move the moment ahead, as she leans in towards Link, easily done by past experiences. And Link is ready, determined not to be caught off again. Their lips once more meet, warm parts embracing each other like long-lost friends in a lush, quick exchange of emotions. Abruptly, however, Link nearly gasps again as Malon's lips part, her desire for a more passionate, more… adult kiss to follow. Knowing that this will lead to events he did not want to happen, Link tears away, sitting up and easing Malon back with a slow push.
"I'm sorry, Malon…" He hesitantly shakes his head. "You just… opened your lips… and…"
"Oh…" She blushes sheepishly by her action. "No need to be sorry… I wasn't… I mean, we're kids… I shouldn't be thinking of that…"
"But, Mal, you… you have to understand…" He gazes into her eyes again, "I'm… I'm not ready… I'm not ready yet…"
"Oh… I… I see…" Malon stands up, crestfallen by his response. "Sorry. I guess… I was just getting my hopes up."
"Hey…" Link stands up after her, "don't be sad… I don't like to see you being hurt because… because of this."
"Link…" She looks up at him. "Fairy boy, I… I'm not… I'm just… I'm just disappointed… that… it ain't… it ain't our time yet…" A smile makes its way back.
They stand quietly, pondering over these words of the past few minutes and what could be the future. Then, Link lets out a breaking chuckle. "Ain't our time yet? Malon, do you have the whole thing planned out?"
She blushes again. "Uhhh… Well… You see…"
Link looks away for a moment with a twisted face, then shouts at the ceiling. "Goddesses! Is it possible that you just accompanied me with the strangest girl in the world? One who desperately waits for the right moment for me to…?" A headshake finishes it, then he turns back to Malon. "So, what, did you plan when and where I'm going to say what you're hoping for?"
"Shut up!" The red deepens into the cheeks.
"And what after? Decided already how long we should hold hands in your barn? Already figured out a compromise to make up for lost hours of work just to be with me?"
"HEY! A girl can dream, can't she? And besides… the compromise I made woulda seem ingenious to your haywire plans."
"Oh, Din… What else did you decide in the future?" He cocks his head funnily at her.
Whatever the intensity of the color of Malon's hair, it's overpowered by the face's color. Her countenance shows an extreme hue, the color of crimson. "… Our… marriage," she blurts out with no control over her words.
"WHAT?"
"… And… um… raising a family…" She does not know why she has to add this in. She can't seem to regain command over her mouth, which seems happily suited spilling out her tight secrets that she's been dying to reveal.
Link stares down at the opening they just entered. "One careless jump down that and I could die alone happily…"
"Link!"
He spins back to her, who has an upset look despite how sarcastic his tone was. "Hey, okay! I'm not going to commit suicide. But what you said… nearly drove me close." He stares at his choice again, frightening Malon that he might proceed with the taking of his own life.
"Link…" She leans herself intimately against him, putting her hands gently on his chest. "I… I do think of this… Our life… together…"
Link blushes immediately, feeling the uncomfortable sensation that he rarely encounters. He chuckles to relieve himself scantily. "Mal… sometimes you really do scare me with your feelings… I mean, thinking about me… um, romantically about half the time had me always on edge, but… but going as far as to think of our life together… That… That takes the cake."
"Oh…" She sincerely regrets putting her mouth before her mind. "I guess I shouldn't have… told you about it…"
Link sighs, then rubs his face as he chuckles again. "You're lucky that I like you… Else… I would have been pushing up daisies."
CRACK! Malon's foot smashes onto top of one of Link's. "And you're lucky that I like you, too… Else, ya would look like these dead Lizalfoses." Link's eyes cringe in pain, for even the Hero of Time cannot handle Malon's strong legs. "Hey, I got that feeling that we're being watched again…"
"Don't you know by now?" Link said as he rubs his sore foot. "In here, we're always being watched."